When was the first slot invented: slots history
Want to know when the first slots were invented and trace the history of one of the most popular online casino games around? You’re in the right place, so whether you play slots in Vegas, at a USA online casino or anywhere else, read on as we take a look at how it all began!
First Ever Slots
A New York firm, Sittman and Pitt of Brooklyn, is said to have invented the first ever slot way back in 1891. It used five drums to hold 50 playing cards and winning combinations were based on poker hands. Due to the high number of possible winning combinations automated payment wasn’t possible, so if your nickel spin was lucky enough to hit a win, you would have to claim your cigar, drink or cigarette from the barman – slots were only in bars in these days.
Around the same time, a Californian named Charles Fey was creating a slot of his own on the other side of the country. His slot was more simplistic, with just three reels and five symbols, one of which was a Liberty Bell which gave the slot its name, whilst the other fruit symbols are responsible for slots being known as fruit machines (especially in the UK).
Automated cash payments were possible on this more simplistic slot and similar machines were developed by other companies as slots swept the nation.
Electromechanical Slots
Through the first half of the 20th century slots changed little until Vegas kings Bally developed the world’s first fully electromechanical slot, Money Honey. This meant the side lever was no longer needed to spin the reels and fully automated payouts were possible for large amounts.
Video Slots
Video slots were the next big step that took offline slots closer to the type of games we know and love today. Initially developed in the mid-1970s these primitive games allowed much improved graphics. The next step was multiple screens, although these didn’t come into being until 1996, with separate bonus rounds and features now possible.
Online and Mobile Slots
These more advanced video slots, in conjunction with internet technology, paved the way for the modern real money online slots we play today, on desktops, tablets and mobiles. Graphics, sound and gameplay are improving all the time, with 3D and perhaps even 4D games coming to the fore.
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